Reelwriter.net on The Quality of Light

2004

IN THE DIRECTOR'S CHAIR

Capturing Blythe's Spirit

By Kelly McCarthy

"There's a lot of egos in both politics and film and there's a lot of drama. I had been a speechwriter in the Clinton administration. And obviously there's a lot of using words to sell something and make your point."

-- Keith Gaby

Keith Gaby knows a little something about drama, something he could have picked up working for the 1992 Clinton/Gore campaign and later as a speechwriter for the Clinton administration. When he eventually decided to leave the political arena, he embraced his other love: film. Gaby enlisted the help of fellow former White House staffer Rob Hertzfeld, who had dreamed of becoming a film producer and Ged Dickersin, another former White Houser, who also came on board as producer. The result of their efforts is The Quality of Light (2003), made for under $1 million.

The film stars Tony Award winning actress Blythe Danner as Mary, and National Film Critics Award winner actor Frederic Forrest as David. The two actors portray lovers who have not seen each other in thirty-five years, but come together to reunite for one night. Touching, poignant and heartfelt, the intimate character study is making a strong impression in the festival circuit. The film screened at The Hampton's Film Festival where it earned the coveted Spotlight screening. It premiered in 2003 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and was shown at the Philadelphia Film Festival where it was voted among the top three American Independent features.

In April the film was featured at The 7th Annual Sonoma Valley Film Festival where on Saturday, April 3, Danner received the festival's special Career Achievement Honor. In Danner's distinguished career she has received the 1970 Tony Award for her starring role in Butterflies Are Free and starred or appeared in countless television and film roles. She has appeared in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986); costarred with Robert Duvall in The Great Santini (1979) and played opposite Nick Nolte in The Prince of Tides, directed by Barbra Streisand.

Reelwriter.net had the pleasure of speaking with Keith Gaby and Rob Hertzfeld about the making of their first feature film.

Kelly McCarthy: How did the two of you come to collaborate on this project?

Rob Hertzfeld: Keith called me up one day when we were at the Pentagon and said do you want to have lunch? I hadn't seen him in a while and I though it was weird he was calling me for lunch. Though I used to just wander in his office or he'd wander into mine and we'd talk. So we had lunch in the executive dining room. He said, 'Remember when you told me a couple of years back when we were working late that your dream fantasy was to be a movie producer?' I said, 'Yeah.' 'Well,' he said, 'I've written a script. Do you want to make a move?' 'I said, 'Sure, why not?'

McCarthy: Did you ever imagine that the two of you really would make a movie?

Hertzfeld: I never expected anything to even come of it. I had always teased Keith that I felt we were like the dog running after the car. And if we never catch the car we'll have no idea what to do.

Keith Gaby: The interesting thing was there was this day that I got a huge fundraising commitment that meant we were going to go forward and I wrote Rob a one line e-mail and said, 'How does it feel to have the bumper in your mouth?'

McCarthy: How did your former career prepare you for writing a screenplay?

Gaby: There's a lot of egos in both politics and film and there's a lot of drama. I had been a speechwriter in the Clinton administration. And obviously there's a lot of using words to sell something and make your point. I'd been screenwriting for awhile before I did the speechwriting. They are both human voice forms as opposed to a novel, or a magazine article where you are writing in a stricter way, an objective way whereas in a speech or in dialogue you are trying to imitate human speech and patterns. So it's a little less rigorous in that sense and the two are similar.

McCarthy: How did the story come to you? Did you imagine Blythe Danner in the role?

Gaby: I originally wrote the piece for two people in their seventies who were looking back at their lives. But once I knew Blythe was interested I rewrote it for her. The movie takes place in two locations with these two main characters. There are no special effects. It's a character driven story.

McCarthy: Can you talk about the concept of these characters reuniting for one night?

Gaby: It was less about two people reuniting, which is a well worn plot idea and more about people looking back on their lives and how they lived them. What you have are two characters, one (David) who made a lot of mistakes in his life. He lived with two different women and both relationships ended badly. He had two children out of wedlock. And it's a life of mistakes but he lived fully. He wasn't afraid to try things, to get into relationships, to fall in love. At the end of his life he looks back at this brief romance with Blythe's character with the joy of those two weeks they had together. She was the opposite. She (Mary) lived a very scared life. The moment of romance that she shared with him was really the only time she opened up. And she eventually turned away from it out of fear, living a life that was guided more by what she was afraid to do than what she would embrace. She looks back with bitterness about having lost what she saw as her one chance at happiness. And it's the way she lived her life that took away her happiness.

McCarthy: Do you identify with either of these characters?

Gaby: I think Blythe's character came out of me. But she is an exaggerated form, different than Fred's character, which is sort of another part of me.

McCarthy: Were you able to change your own behavior because you were examining the personalities of your characters?

Gaby: When I wrote it I wasn't thinking of it as being based on anyone. I tend not to be in touch with the inspiration for whatever I'm writing until a few months later. Having watched them create the characters, it was sometimes uncomfortable. They would show me things about myself, or someone else who was reflected in the writing and I would have to swallow hard at that.

McCarthy: How did you get Blythe?

Hertzfeld: There's absolutely no reason in the world why she should have done this project. But she liked the script and she was gracious enough to stick with it. She'd come in on the set and do the dishes. She invited the whole crew over to her house to have a barbecue. She is so wonderful. She had other offers and she could have made so much more money. When Frederic Forrest was deciding whether to do the film or not she called and talked him into it. She even went out to dinner with some of the investors. The film absolutely would not have been made without her.

McCarthy: Did you have a favorite moment during the shoot?

Gaby: I remember looking over at Robb the next to the last day, when Blythe gave the emotional climax in the film. And he (Rob) looked ashen, as did everyone else on the crew. She was so powerful in that scene. There are two or three moments in the film, speeches where she just completely dominates the camera.

McCarthy: Keith and Rob thank you for taking time to talk with Reelwriter.net.